


No Doubt In Her Mind

by ivyspinners



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ficlet, Gen, Lyra Erso Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22276036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivyspinners/pseuds/ivyspinners
Summary: Lyra makes the same choice, the only choice we have ever seen her make, because there is no safety anywhere for her family if her husband and his vile friend succeed.Moments from a universe where Lyra Erso lives.
Relationships: Jyn Erso & Lyra Erso
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	No Doubt In Her Mind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [incognitajones](https://archiveofourown.org/users/incognitajones/gifts).



> Written for incognitajones's canon divergence prompt of "LYRA LIIIIIVES".

_zero_

Lyra makes the same choice, the only choice we have ever seen her make, because there is no safety anywhere for her family if her husband and his vile friend succeed, but the blaster shot meant for her goes wide. The plasma discharge sends a shock through her body, and her consciousness slips. Not her heart beat or her breath. When Saw searches the field for a corpse, it is not a corpse he finds.

The living, as it turns out, are infinitely harder to deal with than the dead.

_one_

This is what Jyn learns, in her time with Saw: There are only three minerals which amplify plasma bolts in their raw state, but ten crystals that can disrupt the deadliest laser. The range of commonly used military EMPs is actually half what the stormtroopers think. The truncheon in close combat is superior to a blaster.

Her father is a prisoner of the Empire. They are all prisoners, in one way or another, so long as it reigns, even if they appear to walk free. People can love her, but there will always be something they choose first, even if it's only one thing--the safety of the cell, a true victory against the Empire, or knowledge about her father's whereabouts.

"Don't worry," she tells her mother. "I would risk my life for that information too." Even if it meant leaving her mother behind in the one way that it matters most.

Lyra breaths out in a low, measured sigh. "I knew we couldn't run from the Empire forever. But I didn't want _this_."

Jyn learns, then, that sometimes it's her that does the leaving, because they leave Saw within that cycle.

_two_

Jedha is the last place Lyra felt at peace, so that is where they settle. It's under imperial occupation, but what place isn't? Lyra lived in the Outer Rim, beyond the Empire's border, and it did no good; there is no place outside the Empire's reach. And here, at least, Jyn can see some of the wonders of the universe, even if it's fading. Even if violence washes over the city in tides, more and more as the years pass.

"Kyber," Lyra says, when it's time to make a choice. Stay or go. To tug off her old initiate's reds and hide again, or to wear it still, underneath a dark coat. "Orson Krennic will dig his fingers here eventually."

"Then we stay," Jyn says.

Their friends with the planet's underground resistance do not seem displeased.

_three_

"That's enough credits to buy your whole stall!" Jyn shouts. She doesn't lose her temper easily, but when she does, it flares bright.

Behind her, a young man--one of Jedha's natives--laughs out loud. She starts, and turns around. He wears a set of pilot's goggles, and his smile is friendly. "That has to be the worst bargaining I've seen in three cycles."

"I'd like to see you do better," Jyn says.

Bodhi does.

_four_

There is no hasty defection. Instead, after one of his runs, Bodhi arrives at their house bone-white.

"He has a holo with the two of you--the three of you," he says to Lyra, and then to Jyn. "That girl. That must be you."

Lyra, conscious of the name she's worn for the past five years, doesn't stop chopping the vegetable roots. Her fingers tighten around the vibroblade, and she quietly changes the settings. "Who?"

Bodhi looks left, then right. His voice drops. "Your husband. I have a message for you."

_five_

When Lyra and Jyn approach the nascent Rebellion, it's with a message.

And an old friend, who followed the Empire to Jedha, and found more than he expected there.

"I have fought for twenty years," the Lion of Onderon says, to the leaders of the Rebellion. "We died so we would not lose. This is how we can win."

_zero/infinity_

Lyra faces down the Empire at blaster point, her family on the line, and there is no doubt in her mind.

"You will never win," she says.

The Empire does not win.

_fin_


End file.
